Trailer with massive transformer cleared from Waukesha intersection

WAUKESHA — A semi hauling a massive transformer has been cleared from the intersection of Highways 164 and 59 in Waukesha. That trailer disconnected from the tractor just after 6 a.m. Tuesday — and caused the trailer to fall to the ground and block the intersection.

“He went into his turn, ‘n’ the pin snapped, from–I guess–the tension on the right side of the load, there, ‘n’ it made the trailer hit–off the ground ‘n’ drag across the concrete,” said Craig DeJulius who works for the Corbin Power Core Company and was driving the escort vehicle for this operation.

The Waukesha Fire Department attempted to use airbags to raise the trailer back up enough to reconnect it to the tractor. The airbags were able to lift the trailer, but a pin on the trailer sheared twice.

Eventually just after 1:30 p.m., the trailer with the transformer was cleared from the intersection.

The transformer on the trailer was being transported from Waukesha Electric to a tornado-ravaged location in Oklahoma. The transformer alone weighs 140,000 pounds. With the trailer, it tips the scales at 243,000 pounds.